Microbial Ecology

Through microbial ecology research projects carried out in the Lazar lab, we seek to understand how microbial communities are influenced by their abiotic environment, how these communities influence their abiotic environment, and how these populations interact with each other. We focus on underground terrestrial habitats, surface aquatic habitats, insect or fish microbiomes, and fossil microbial populations witnessing other historical times.

 

To complete these studies, we use advanced molecular methods (genomics, metagenomics, metaproteomics) to study the diversity of microbial communities, as well as their metabolic pathways or functions. We also use means of culturing microbial cells in the laboratory, by in situ reconstitutions of underground habitats in the laboratory (bioreactors) or incubation experiments with substrates labeled with stable isotopes (SIP).